How We Can Better Deal with Stress
Experts Report: Associate Professor of Psychology Gregory Chasson
TRANSCRIPT
To manage stress there are a variety of different ways that you can go about it, and each person probably should treat it a bit like a buffet. You kind of want to pick and choose what works in certain contexts.
Sometimes when something is really intense and causing you a lot of stress, some strategies might work for that but might not work for something that’s a little less intense or things that are more chronic or long term. So it really depends on the situation.
For things that are more acute or in the immediate and that are causing a lot of distress, there are things that you can do such as mindfulness meditation. There are ways that you can speak to people and get supportive help from the people around you: loved ones, therapists, friends, colleagues.
Journaling can be helpful. Also challenging some thoughts that might be contributing to your reaction to the stress that might be making it worse—checking in about whether or not you’re thinking about things from an emotional state or you’re thinking about things from a more rational place.
